Stallion Sentinel

Dearest Stallion Families,

So much has occurred at the MARVELous Meadow Woods Middle to date. You will see evidence of this in this newsletter edition. I continue to be inspired by the work of our staff in our quest to be ONE TRIBE and fulfill our values of Leadership, Inclusion, Voice, and Excellence. I am equally inspired by our Stallions who consistently choose to exemplify leadership traits and are eager to develop their leadership skills. Lastly, I am extremely grateful for the support of our Stallion families. Thank you for supporting us as we commit to boosting our pillars of academics, culture, and leadership.

I am pleased to announce that we will be leveraging our "academics" pillar through a robust literacy initiative. There will be a schoolwide focus on vocabulary across content areas. Students will be exposed to vocabulary terms in context and will have opportunities to engage with vocabulary through interactive word walls and vocabulary trivia challenges. As students develop their vocabulary skills, we are confident this will positively impact reading comprehension. This past week, our MARVELous Media Specialist (Ms. Gensler) and English Language Arts Coach (Ms. Rabel), kicked off our Book Taco program. All students will participate in this program with the intent of motivating our Stallions to become avid readers and writers. I invite you to encourage your student to take advantage of a FREE, live, and virtual tutoring opportunity provided by the Orange County Library System. See the flyer below for details.

I am also very happy to report that Board Member Linda Kobert has 100% funded our "One BOOK, One TRIBE" initiative. Every student and staff will receive a copy of the same book and will be part of a schoolwide book club. Students and staff will receive their very own book following the author visit. How exciting! Our goal is to develop a TRIBE of Reader Leaders and we look forward to your support in this endeavor! Stay tuned for details!

This past month our students and staff created their personal and academic/professional Wildly Important Goals (WIGs) and will monitor these throughout the year by creating and reflecting on personal scoreboards. Please engage your students in conversations about these goals.

Establishing community connections remains a priority as we aim to boost parental engagement. Join me for "Coffee Convos with Principal Ninah". I really enjoyed meeting with my Stallion families this past Wednesday. Our families enjoyed the time so much they requested we do it every month! I hope you can join us next month!

I also invite you to attend our monthly School Advisory Council (SAC) meetings and consider starting/becoming a member of our Parent Teacher Student Association. We truly believe that there is power in partnerships and our parents play an integral role in student success.

Thank you for being part of our ONE Stallion Strong TRIBE! 🐎💪🏼🌟

In leadership and service,

Your Proud Principal, Ms. Ninah

I had a wonderful time meeting our Stallion families at my first coffee conversations event.

Will you join me for my next gathering on December 7th? I hope so!

RSVP via this link - https://forms.gle/QRoBm7hg7B195eRZA

OCPS Vision | To ensure that every student has a promising and successful future.

OCPS Mission | With the support of families and the community, we create enriching and diverse pathways to lead our students to success.

MWMS Mission | Empowering our Students to Lead and Succeed

At Meadow Woods Middle, our Stallions LIVE by these values:

Leadership - Inclusion - Voice - Excellence

L = Leadership Everyone can be a leader
I = Inclusion Everyone has genius
V = Voice Change starts with me
E = Excellence Empower students to lead their own learning

MWMS Mantra | We are ONE Stallion Strong TRIBE!

Principal, Charisse M. Ninah Charisse.Ninah@ocps.net

Assistant Principal, Ivonne Ruiz Moreno Ivonne.RuizMoreno@ocps.net

Assistant Principal, Angela Walker angela.walker@ocps.net

Behavior Specialist, Natalie.Agosto@ocps.net

School Counselor, Wanda.Alicea@ocps.net

PASS Coordinator, Jade.Dixon@ocps.net

Media Specialist, Kelli.Gensler@ocps.net

Instructional Coach, Milagros.Gonzalez2@ocps.net

Math Coach, Nelly.Maldonado@ocps.net

Staffing Specialist, Nilsaliz.Medina@ocps.net

S.A.F.E. Coordinator, Claudia.Munoz@ocps.net

ELA Coach, Jennifer.Rabel@ocps.net

6th/7th Grade Dean A-L, Yamilett.Navarro@ocps.net

8th/7th Grade Dean M-Z & Athletics Director, Kevin.Morgan@ocps.net

NOV 6 Daylight Saving Time | Turn Back Your Clocks

NOV 9 No Early Release (Dismissal @ 3:57 PM)

NOV 10 Clubs Day

NOV 11 Meadow Woods Middle celebrates Veterans Day!

NOV 10-12 MWMS Theatre Production (see below for details)

NOV 16 TEACH IN

NOV 17 Picture Make-Up Day

NOV 17 Quarter 2 Progress Report Cards go home

NOV 21-25 THANKSGIVING BREAK (NO SCHOOL)

🏐 See our Sports Schedule below and join us for home and/or away games!

📅 SAVE THE DATES

DEC 5-7 PMA, CFE, STAR, and End-of-Quarter Assessments

Stallion families, we invite you to our inaugural Veterans Day celebration on Friday, November 11th. If you are a veteran, please complete the RSVP form via the link below or by scanning the QR code below. Please RSVP by Monday, November 7th. https://forms.gle/nruzNwv1wLtqKqef8

We look forward to honoring our Stallion veterans (staff and families)!

We invite all of our Stallions to wear RED, WHITE, and BLUE!

Date(s): Thursday (11/10), Friday (11/11), and Saturday (11/12)

Time: 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Admission: Tickets are $7 and the Kona truck will be present.

Link for tickets: https://teachtix.com/meadowwoodsms/15-reasons-not-to-be-in-a-play

We invite you to be a guest speaker (in a classroom) for our annual Teach In event on Wednesday, November 16th. This is a wonderful opportunity to share about your profession, business, or culture. Sign up today via the QR code below. We look forward to your participation!

For more information, please email Ms. Gensler at kelli.gensler@ocps.net.

Current NJHS members should plan to attend all meetings.

Please reach out to Ms. Attig, our NJHS Advisor, for details. peyton.attig@ocps.net

Our school provides students the opportunity to participate competitively in four sports throughout the year. The sports are soccer, volleyball, basketball, and track. There are additional extracurricular sports and intramural activities. To be eligible to participate and compete, a student must maintain a 2.0 GPA. A valid and updated physical packet must be completed before your child is allowed to try out for a sport.

How can you remain informed of all things athletics?

• Visit the athletics page on our school website for more information - https://meadowwoodsms.ocps.net/athletics
• Follow us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/stallionathletics_mwms/

Sports Season Timeline

Soccer | August to September

Volleyball | October to November

Basketball | January to February

Track & Field | March to April

The Stallion of the Month program is designed so that any student in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, regardless of academic ability, can receive the award. These students uphold our values of Leadership, Inclusion, Voice, and Excellence. Well done, Stallions!

We are so proud of our Stallions who excelled academically this quarter by earning a GPA of 3.0 or higher. We look forward to celebrating more Stallions in Quarter 2 who meet this academic goal!

We are extremely proud of our Stallion student leaders (Green Team) for planning and executing our green initiatives in 21-22. As a result, we were awarded $300. We look forward to continuing our efforts in the areas of recycling, waste reduction, energy and water conservation, and physical fitness and wellness. This year we also look forward to implementing our HEALTHY FOOD & GARDEN INITIATIVES. Thanks to Ms. Galan (our ESE Team Lead) and our Student Lighthouse Team, we will have a school garden that will be maintained by our Stallions! Additionally, we are bringing back our lunch SHARE TABLE to reduce food waste and donate excess food to local organizations. Stay tuned for updates on our green initiatives! 🌍🌿🌍

Student drop-off begins at 9:00 AM. Parents should not drop off students before this time. Car riders, walkers and bike riders should not arrive before 9:00 AM. There is no supervision outside of the school prior to this time. Bike riders, remember to lock up your bike!

Dismissal from school begins at 3:50 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 2:50 PM on Wednesday. Parents can not pick up their student from the Main Office for early dismissal after 2:50 PM on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 1:50 PM on Wednesday. Thank you for your cooperation!

Each year, families MUST complete the Parent Consent Form at the start of the school year or as soon as possible after you enroll your student in school.

The Parent Consent Form includes fields for:

· Acceptable and responsible uses of technology

· School social media use

· District use of a student’s phone and/or video

· Release of student directory information

· Clinic services

· Health screenings

This year, parents/guardians must choose to opt-in or out of each individual clinic service and health screening by law. In the case of an emergency, the parent/guardian and appropriate emergency personnel will be contacted.

The Device Refusal Form is OPTIONAL and only needed for families planning to have their student use a personal device, NOT a district device.

All online parent forms can be accessed the OCPS Parent Portal in the Skyward Family Access app. For help completing the online forms, please view the following:

· Online Parent Forms Video

· Online Forms Parent Reference Sheet (see image below)

OCPS families that have NEVER logged into the OCPS Parent Portal before, please view this video to register. If an error message is received, please complete the OCPS Parent Portal Help Form.

OCPS families are invited to attend a Superintendent Town Hall meeting. As your new superintendent, Dr. Maria Vazquez outlined a 100-day entry plan which includes hearing from you. The Town Hall meetings will be held at the locations below. Superintendent Vazquez looks forward to seeing you there. Click here for Town Hall Meeting details.

Thank you for being a valued member of our MARVELous Meadow Woods Middle Lighthouse School of Innovation! #ONEStallionStrongTRIBE

Follow us on social media - Facebook, Instagram & Twitter!

OCPS District Website: http://www.ocps.net

ADDitions Volunteer Website: http://ocps.samaritan.com

Office Hours: Monday - Friday | 8:00am - 4:30pm

Email: meadowwoods_ms@ocps.net
Website: https://meadowwoodsms.ocps.net/home
Location: 1800 Rhode Island Woods Circle, Orlando, FL, USA
Phone: 407-850-5180
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meadowwoodsms/
Twitter: @MWMS_OCPS